Turning over 327F's

My commander 31 sat for years and one of the motors is stuck. Is there a way to get a wrench on it and turn the crankshaft over? Fords have a nice 15/16 bolt on the crank snout to get ahold of. This has a little 5/8 bolt you sure wouldn't wanna turn a motor over with. Also, any suggestions on the best penetrating fluid to break the rings free?

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Mark, start by pulling the distributor and use a priming tool to run the oil pump to lube all bearings. A great cheap tool is an old Chevy 350 car distributor with all the teeth ground off the drive gear and the shaft cut just below the advance plate. Put he tool in where the distributor goes, and run with a cordless drill, the drill will bog down as oil pressure comes up but don't worry you can run it as long as you want, the longer the better! Take off all the fan belts in case a driven item is stuck. Remove all the plugs, fill the cylinders with any good penetrating oil and wait a week. The safest way to get the motor to turn is to put air pressure into a cylinder. You need to loosen the valve rocker arms on the cylinder you chose to get the cylinder to hold air. I would also remove the valve covers and hose down all valve component's and inside the springs as the valves may be stuck also. You might want to just go ahead and back off all the rocker arms and see if the open valves move when you back off the adjustment. Good Luck! most stuck engines don't live long if you get them loose, following these steps will give you a fighting chance.

I'm not so sure it's stuck. A part of me thinks someone told the previous owner that to beat him up on price. The air cleaners are bolted to the carbs and the engine covers have always been in place, with the boat itself generally shrink wrapped or covered with a tarp. It's cold here in Iowa. I'd just like to get a breaker bar on it somehow and try for myself. I'd like to wait until spring to put batteries in her, but I will if I have to.

When I bought the boat my intention was to repower with 350's. This boat is so unmolested and clean I kind of hate to replace the original motors.

Check out Kroil as a penetrant. Their web site has many testimonials from people having used it in a variety of ways including stuck engines. Packaged in a bright orange spray can or in a liquid can container.

I have used it a few times and had good results. Nothing dramatic though.

Check out Kroil as a penetrant. Their web site has many testimonials from people having used it in a variety of ways including stuck engines. Packaged in a bright orange spray can or in a liquid can container.

I have used it a few times and had good results. Nothing dramatic though.